Children of Humanity
by DramaLexy
Summary: Sequel to 'Brave'. The moment of truth for the Cylon hybrids looms near. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE: **Children of Humanity

**AUTHOR: **DramaLexy

**DISCLAIMER: **If they were mine, the show would be back LONG before January 2008

**SUMMARY: **Sequel to my story, 'Brave.' The moment of truth for the Cylon hybrids looms near.

**DISTRIBUTION: **Sure, just ask first

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I can't believe it's almost been a year since I first started posting 'Brave.' I didn't mean for it to take this long for me to finish the sequel (sorry!). My senior year of college was crazy, but I swore to myself that I'd finish this fic before grad school began in September. So…here it is, and I hope you enjoy. Feedback is always appreciated.

* * *

Eight-year-old Kacey T. Adama rolled over in bed and turned off her alarm when she heard it ring. Pulling back the curtain that covered her bed, she could see her mother at the table in their room, going over paperwork. "Hi, Mom." 

Kara looked up. "Hey, honey."

Kacey looked around the bunkroom where her family lived. There were more families on Galactica now than there had been when she was small. Giving everyone private quarters wasn't an option, so instead a couple of the bunkrooms were reserved for crewmen with children. Kacey had a bunk that was next to her two best friends' beds and above her little brother's, but all three of those beds were currently empty.

"Where is everybody?" she asked her mother.

"Lee took Zak to get washed up and dressed; they're going down to the hangar, I think."

Kacey frowned. "Dad said he was taking me to the observation deck. Grandpa gave me new star charts and I wanted to work on plotting."

"He probably just forgot, kiddo. You've got all morning before he's supposed to be on shift; I'm sure you can fit in both." And Kacey knew that her mother was probably right, but that wasn't the point. Lee had been forgetting a lot of things lately in favor of showing Zak fighters or playing something with Zak. The little boy had turned three a few weeks earlier; he was finally old enough that he could start to appreciate some of the things that his father loved.

Kacey liked planes, too, but she'd finally grown bored with just going down to visit the hangar deck. She had memorized all of the manuals years ago but still wasn't quite old enough to do maintenance and was years away from learning to fly. It took effort to find things to keep her mind challenged these days, and she could understand why it was probably more convenient to spend time with her easier-to-please little brother. But that didn't mean she had to like it.

* * *

After getting together her things, Kacey made her way down the hall to the closest washroom. She could hear giggles from inside as she opened the door. Zak was seated on the sink, playing with a little extra bit of shaving cream that his father had given him. Lee was halfway done removing the stubble that he'd accumulated overnight. "Morning, sleepyhead," he told Kacey when he noticed her. 

She frowned. "Am not. It's only 0700."

Lee smiled. "I was just kidding, Kace. Zak was up and bouncing around at 0630."

"We're shaving," Zak gleefully told his sister. The little boy didn't even care that his 'razor' was really just an old toothbrush with no bristles.

"Mom said you were going down to the deck?" Kacey asked Lee, ignoring her brother.

"Yeah, you want to come?"

"You said the other day that you'd help me with the star charts Grandpa gave me."

Lee sighed. "Sorry, Kacey, I forgot. If you want to go start, I'll find you before my shift, promise."

"Yeah, sure," she replied, heading for the showers. "I guess I can just teach KJ about my last one while I wait."

* * *

KJ Agathon was Kacey's best friend in the universe. He was three years younger than her, but that didn't matter. Besides just being friends, they were also cousins of a sort – KJ was also a Cylon hybrid. Unlike Kacey, his genes hadn't been played with before birth, so he wasn't quite as advanced as she was, but at just five years old he could still run intellectual circles around their other best friend, seven-year-old Nicholas Tyrol. 

"Didn't you get new charts?" KJ asked Kacey as she inputted the code to let them into the observation deck.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you supposed to be going over them with your dad?"

"Yeah."

"So how come you wanna go over these with me now?"

"Because he's busy and I promised you I'd show you and I keep my promises." KJ was smart enough not to say anything else.

The two of them worked together for the next couple of hours, learning about the star systems that they were traveling through. KJ noticed that Kacey repeatedly checked the clock throughout the morning. "When did he say he was coming?" he asked his friend.

"He didn't. Just 'before his shift'."

"You know, it's not your fault," KJ tried to comfort her.

"What's not my fault?"

"That you're not really his. That you're different."

Kacey narrowed her eyes. "You don't know anything," she snapped. Cowed, KJ looked away.

In all truthfulness, though, that was exactly what she was worried about. Every day they got closer to finding Earth and farther from the horrors of the genocide. She was part of that future, but also knew she was part of the past. Everyone onboard the Galactica had adjusted to having a Cylon and hybrids in their midst, but they were still labeled as 'different.' Kacey didn't want to be 'different' anymore. Her brother wasn't, her parents weren't, and she wanted to fit in. She wanted to belong.

A flash outside the window caught Kacey's eye. As she turned to look, she realized that there were actually several flashes – Cylon ships jumping in. Alarms began blaring onboard Galactica.

"Should we go home?" KJ asked. Kacey shook her head, mesmerized by the battle. She hadn't been connected to the Cylons in years, but the presence of them nearby still had an effect on something within her mind. The battle was as clear to her as if she was watching a Dradis screen. She didn't know what the Raiders were thinking, but she could practically feel every single one of them as they attacked. It frightened her; normal people – humans – couldn't do this. It was a reminder that she was different, that no matter how hard she tried to pretend she'd never be human, that –

Kacey's gaze shifted as she realized what some of the Raiders were doing. Instead of simply engaging the CAP and alert fighters, a few of the ships had broken off to target the civilian ships that hadn't jumped away yet. One of the Liners in the crosshairs was home to a secret that Kacey had kept for years. She knew she wasn't supposed to reactivate her link to the Cylons, due to the possibility that they would get information from her at the same time, but she HAD to protect that ship.

KJ watched as she closed her eyes, concentrating hard. "Kacey?" he asked but got no response. A shot fired from one of the Raiders suddenly arced up, finding a target in another Cylon ship. Several others also began using their weapons against each other instead of the Colonials. The rest of the civilian ships got away, and Galactica followed suit once its fighters had been recovered. Only then did Kacey open her eyes. "What just happened?" he asked.

"Don't tell anybody," she made him swear. "Come on, let's go home."

* * *

Upon arriving at their bunkroom, however, Kacey instantly knew that she was busted. Her mother, father, and grandfather were all waiting. "It was you, wasn't it?" Lee asked her. 

Kacey looked down. "They were targeting civilian ships. I…I had to help."

"Despite the fact that we've told you how dangerous it can be?" Kacey didn't answer.

Adama stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What's done is done now," he said, offering her a small smile. "I need to get back to the CIC."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Kacey quietly said once her grandfather was gone.

"Did you two finish with your old chart?" he asked.

"Not quite."

"Why don't you keep working, then? I'll see you tonight."

"Yes, Sir."

Kara understood the look on her daughter's face. "I'll come get you for lunch, okay, kiddo?"

"Thanks, Mom. See you later."

"You really want to go over the charts?" KJ asked her once they were alone in the room. Kacey laid the papers down on the table.

"Yeah. Let's get done."

* * *

On a Basestar a few solar systems away, several Cylons talked together in the ship's main control room. "As nice as it is to know the little thing is still alive," a Three commented, "She's still dangerously destructive." 

"Attempting to retrieve her again most likely won't have any better results than the last time," a Six added before Leoben could make the suggestion.

"We didn't just learn that SHE's still alive," an Eight broke in. "Kacey's gotten better at blocking her thoughts, but something important still slipped through – her motivation."

"Other than simply protecting the Colonials?" Three asked.

"That was only secondary. Hera lives. And she's somewhere onboard one of the ships that we were targeting."

* * *

TBC... 


	2. Chapter 2

As far as eight-year-old Isis knew, she'd grown up on the Sagittarian Liner for her whole life, other than a year on the surface of New Caprica. Her mother, Maya, was a school teacher and the two of them had been each other's whole worlds since Isis' birth.

"Mommy, what's this word?" Isis asked, holding up her book and pointing to a particular spot on the page. Maya looked away from the papers she'd been grading.

"Bricolage," she told her daughter. "What are you reading?"

"A history book," Isis replied, showing her mother the cover.

Maya frowned. "No wonder you're having trouble. That's for my advanced students, sweetie. What happened to the book I got you last week?"

"I finished it."

"It was eighteen hundred pages, Isis. That was supposed to last you the month." The little girl just shrugged. "What am I going to do with you? Here," she told her daughter, handing her a dictionary. "If you learn every word in there in a week – no, I'm not even going to finish that sentence, because I know that'll then be exactly what you do. Stick with history."

"Okay."

Maya smiled as she watched her go back to the textbook. If anyone had told her eight years ago when her biological child died that her life could be made this full and happy by one completely anonymous little girl, she would have laughed. Raising the little girl alone hadn't always been easy, but it was worth it. Isis was extremely bright, already a few years ahead of her peers in school, and very loving. Maya still wished that she would get the opportunity to know what life on a planet was like instead of the shipboard experience she had always known, but Isis was happy and that was all that really mattered.

After another hour of grading, Maya was finally done for the day. "Come on, honey. We can go get dinner and maybe have some time to play before bed."

* * *

Almost every single night for as long as she could remember, Isis had dreamed the same thing. She was dressed in a long white dress, standing on a stage in the most beautiful theater she'd ever imagined. The golden lighting illuminated the beautiful architecture and carvings on the wall.

A hand gently landed on her shoulder, and she looked up into the face of a beautiful woman. Isis had known of her all her life without ever knowing who she was. For her, the dark-haired woman represented an angel, always watching over her.

"Are you ready, Hera?" the woman asked. "It's almost time." But before Isis could ask who she was or what it was almost time for or why she thought her name was Hera, she would fade away and Isis would wake up.

Looking around her quarters as she sat up in bed, Isis saw that her mother was still asleep. She quietly slipped out of bed and made her way over to the window. The ships of the fleet were scattered around outside.

"I'm ready, guardian," she whispered. "I'm ready."

* * *

Four days later, there was another Cylon attack. It was the first time in nearly a year that there had been two so close together. That was troubling enough on its own, but the thing that was really concerning was the fact that the Sagittarian Liner had once again been a target of the Raiders. Luckily everyone got away unscathed and Kacey's abilities hadn't been required, but it was still deeply troubling.

"Bill, look at me," Laura said as they sat together on the couch in their quarters. "Do you think that they know?"

"About Isis?"

"Yes. Is it possible that somehow they found her?"

"Anything's possible."

"Then she's no longer safe there."

Adama sighed. "Sometimes…I wonder if she stopped being safe the moment that we got our hands on her."

Laura looked over at him. "We both agreed that leaving her where she was wasn't an option."

"At the time…It could now be called a short-sighted decision based on worst-case scenarios."

"If I recall, the worst-case scenarios were pretty bad, Bill."

Adama couldn't argue with that. He took a sip of his ambrosia, carefully considering his next question. "Would you do it again?"

She cocked her head, thinking about it. "If I was still the president and the circumstances were presented again today in exactly the same way…I'm not sure. But little KJ is still with his parents – "

"Which means that we played God possibly for no reason."

"We did what we thought we had to," Laura corrected. "And now we're bound to it…Would you do it again?"

Adama finished off his glass. "No."

She slowly nodded. "I think that you should bring Maya and Isis to the Galactica. Until we know if she's been compromised, this is the safest place."

Adama considered that for a long moment. "I'll send a pilot tomorrow," he finally said.

"Thank you…I'm going to bed; are you coming?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes. I have a few more things to go over."

* * *

Isis was awed by the Galactica's hanger deck as she stepped off of the Raptor that had brought her and her mother from their ship. There were fighters all around and so many people busily working. She'd heard stories before about the daring pilots that protected the fleet, but she'd never dreamed that she'd get to visit their home.

Maya held tightly to her daughter's hand, making sure she didn't get too far without her. She knew that the hangar wasn't a place for little girls to be wandering. "Stay close," she told Isis, who nodded. The child watched everything, wide-eyed, as they headed for the door.

The crewman who had met them on the deck walked them down the complicated hallways toward the quarters that had been prepared for them. "Here you are, ma'am," the young man told them as he opened the hatch.

"Thank you," Maya replied. The room was small, with one regular bunk and a little bed in the corner. Isis immediately began checking over everything.

A knock on the still-slightly-open hatch brought Maya out of her thoughts. Laura smiled at the other woman as she came inside. "Was the flight okay?" she asked.

"It was fine."

"Good. I'm not sure if this meets up to the accommodations on the Liner, but…once you get used to it, things here are really pretty good."

"You seem to have adjusted well." Laura smiled. "I'm afraid I don't understand, though."

"Understand what?"

"You said that you were afraid Isis was in danger because of the Cylons trying to destroy civilian ships. Why would you only bring us here? What about the other people on the liner?"

The former president gave her a small smile. "The Admiral is doing everything he can to protect all of the ships in the fleet. This was just a personal favor to me. I wanted to make sure that an old friend and her daughter were safe."

"We can't stay here for long, Laura. I have my students…"

"Hopefully this won't be anything serious. I just wanted to be certain." Maya nodded. "Are you hungry? I can show you where the mess hall is."

* * *

When Kacey went to get lunch in the mess, she immediately noticed that her step-grandmother was also there. "Hi, Grandma," she said as she approached the table.

She thought that Laura's smile briefly dimmed, but it was too quick for her to tell. "What have you been up to today?" she asked.

"Not much. Grandpa said he'd give me a new book this afternoon."

It was at that moment that Kacey realized who Laura had been having lunch with. As her eyes locked with Hera's, she was barely able to conceal her look of surprise. Laura noticed.

"You definitely don't want to be late for that," she pointedly said, and Kacey got the hint.

"Nope. I…I guess I should get some lunch s-so I can go meet him."

"I'll see you later, then."

"Okay."

Kacey grabbed a little bowl of whatever was being served and found a table where she could secretly sneak looks back over at her 'cousin.' She knew that she and her grandfather were going to have A LOT to talk about that afternoon.

* * *

TBC...

Thanks for the feedback I've gotten so far. All comments are greatly appreciated 8-)


	3. Chapter 3

"I saw her," were the first words out of Kacey's mouth when Adama opened his hatch for her. He sighed, handing over the book that he was holding and motioning his granddaughter inside.

"Get in here," he said, and shut the door behind her.

Kacey fixed him with a look that she'd directly inherited from her mother as he sat back down at his desk. "Grandpa, why didn't you tell me?"

"I intended to. I didn't think you would have already gotten the chance to find out for yourself. Considering the Cylon attacks recently, it seems possible that they may have discovered her existence."

Kacey looked down. "That's my fault, isn't it?"

"We don't know anything for sure. And I know you were only trying to protect her."

Silence reigned for a long moment. "Have you seen her?" she finally inquired.

"No, not yet."

The girl smiled. "She's beautiful."

Adama sighed. "Kacey, this is only temporary, for her protection. She's not going to be told the truth. We just wanted her to be safe."

"Do I have to stay away from her?" she timidly asked.

Adama could read his 'granddaughter' as easily as the book that he'd just given her. He knew how she'd been feeling lately about fitting in with her family and could understand her connection to her 'cousin'. "I won't go that far," he finally said, "Just…use common sense, all right?"

Kacey's smile returned. "Yes, Sir."

* * *

Kacey wanted to go and find Isis/Hera, but kept her grandfather's warning in mind. She didn't want to cause trouble. Besides that, she'd promised KJ that they could go over her new star charts, now that she'd finished reviewing them with Lee.

"We've now been able to plot the locations of three of the twelve constellations," she told her friend as they looked over her papers in the mess hall. "But they're the ones closest to each other. Once we can find others, farther away, we'll have a much better idea of where to find Earth."

"What do you think it'll be like?" KJ asked her. "Do you remember the Colonies?"

"Not really, not anymore. It's more like I remember that I once remembered them, if that makes any sense." The younger boy nodded. "I remember a little about New Caprica, though. There was dirt everywhere, not just in greenhouses, and you lived down on the ground instead of up in space. Earth will probably be like that."

"You think the people are nice?"

"I don't know…I hope so."

Kacey looked up as she noticed a figure in the doorway. Isis was watching them. "I-I wanted a snack," she quietly explained. "Is that okay?"

"It's not dinner yet, so all we got is protein bars," KJ told her, completely unaware that he was speaking to his older sister.

"Sure." Kacey got one for her out of a cabinet. "Thanks…What are you working on?"

"Star charts," she told the other girl. "Trying to learn how to figure out where we are and where we're going."

"I'm going to be a Raptor pilot someday," KJ spoke up. "Like my mom."

"My mom's a teacher," Isis informed them. "I want to be one, too. I love reading books."

"So does Kacey," KJ added in. Isis offered a little smile.

"My name's Isis."

"I'm Kacey. That's Karl Junior."

"KJ," the little boy quickly corrected. "It was an inside joke with my parents."

Isis smiled. "So you live here?"

"Yeah, our whole lives."

"My mom and I are just visiting for a little while. What's it like? Are you already being trained to be pilots?"

Kacey laughed. "No way. Nobody lets us anywhere near fighters without our parents."

"But you've been in them before?"

"Yeah, sure."

Isis grinned. "It all seems so cool. I've never been on a Battlestar before."

"Not even when you were little?" Kacey couldn't help but ask, just wanting to see if she could test her 'cousin's memory. KJ gave her a strange look.

"Well…I don't think so. We were on a couple ships after the exodus from New Caprica, so maybe for just a day."

"You remember the exodus?" Kacey inquired. Just like her, Isis hadn't even been two at the time. It was a subtle test of how advanced she was.

"I think so…"

"I wish I'd seen it," KJ commented. "I want to know what a planet is like."

"You will, when we get to Earth," Kacey told him.

Another figure appeared in the doorway. "KJ, let's go, bud," Sharon told her son.

"Bye, Kace. Bye, Isis," he called as he got up. Isis was too shocked to respond. Standing in front of her was the 'guardian angel' from her dreams.

"W-who was that?" she shakily asked Kacey after they were gone.

The other girl was rolling up her charts. "KJ's mom, Sharon. Why?"

"Um…no reason."

* * *

Isis couldn't stop thinking about Sharon for the rest of the day. She had no idea why she'd been dreaming about a real person for her entire life, and wanted some answers. There had to be a reason why this woman would be so important to her, but what would it be?

Late that night, once Maya was asleep, Isis carefully slipped out of bed and quietly opened the hatch to their quarters. She knew from talking to Kacey that evening the other girl lived in the same place as KJ and his parents, and had seen where that was before dinner. Now she made her way back down the corridors to that room, gathered her courage, and knocked.

To her relief, Sharon was the one who opened the hatch. The room seemed empty other than her, although the curtains on a couple beds were pulled closed. "Hey, there," she quietly said with a little smile. "It's awfully late. Are you looking for KJ or Kacey?"

"N-no…I was looking for you."

Sharon frowned. "I don't think I understand."

"Ever since I can remember, I've had dreams at night about a woman – an angel – that I thought was watching over me. But…she looks exactly like you. And I don't know why."

Sharon was starting to get a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knelt in front of the girl, searching her eyes and trying to get a read on her. Cylons in close proximity to others of the same model had the ability to get certain information – and she'd learned the same was true for parents and hybrid children. "Oh, my God…" she finally managed to whisper. "Hera?"

Isis frowned. "Who?"

"You don't remember? Of course not," Sharon instantly chastised herself, "You were so little…"

"My name is Isis," she tried to protest, even though she wasn't so sure anymore. In her dreams, she'd always been called Hera, too.

"No, it's not. I stayed with you every second that I could while you were with me – I know you. I remember every…Your shoulder."

"What?"

"You had a mark on your left shoulder; it looked like a little flame."

Isis' eyes were large. "How did you know that?"

"Does that mean that I'm right?"

The girl tugged at the neck of her pajama top, revealing the birthmark. "Who are you?" she shakily asked. "Who am I?"

Sharon smiled, barely keeping back tears. "Your name is Hera Agathon. You're my daughter."

* * *

Thanks to everyone who's been sending feedback. If you haven't done so already...what are you waiting for? 8-) 


	4. Chapter 4

Isis considered the name for a long moment. "Hera," she finally whispered. "Hera Agathon." Almost as though she wasn't in control of her own arm, she slowly reached a little hand to touch Sharon's face, feeling the connection between them, but not understanding what it was or why.

"You were born here, on this ship," Sharon told her, trying to fill in the blanks as she reveled in the contact with her lost child. "You were born early; you were sick. I let them take care of you, and when I came back, they told me that you were dead."

"No, I'm not."

Sharon laughed, although it mixed with a sob, and wrapped her fingers around the little girl's. "I know you're not, sweetheart. Now I know…Oh, God, I can't believe it." She looked up as she saw another figure approaching them from down the hall.

Helo paused behind Isis, confused. "What's going on?" he asked his wife. She smiled, holding her daughter's hand like a lifeline.

"It's Hera, Helo. She's alive! And she's home."

As Isis watched the smiles on their faces, she knew deep inside that it was true. She had known her mother and father for less than five minutes, but she belonged.

* * *

Maya was frantic when she happened to wake up and notice that Isis wasn't in her bed. She searched their quarters and the surrounding halls, before finally making her way toward where Laura had said her quarters were. The admiral was the one who opened the hatch.

"What's wrong?" he quietly asked her, mindful of the fact that his and Laura's baby-sitting charges for the night – Kacey and Zak – were asleep just behind him.

"Isis is missing."

Laura also appeared in the doorway. "What happened?"

"I don't know! I woke up and she wasn't in her bed. I don't even know where to look."

"Did it look like there was a struggle?" Adama calmly inquired.

"N-no, I don't think so."

"It's an unfamiliar place for her," Laura tried to gently explain. "Maybe she woke up and decided to go exploring. She'll be all right."

"She's fine," a little voice broke in, and Adama looked up to see that Kacey was no longer sleeping on the couch with her brother.

"You know where she is?" he asked his granddaughter. Her eyes warned him that he might not actually want her answer.

"She's with her mother."

Maya was terribly confused. "What?!?" she asked the little girl.

"I didn't tell her," Kacey continued, still only speaking to the Admiral. "I swear. But she saw Sharon today, and…I think she just knew. She's like me and KJ, Grandpa; you can't pretend she's not."

* * *

The first thing Adama and Laura had to do was explain the situation to Maya. The woman had had no idea for the past eight years that the child she was raising was half Cylon. Isis was still her daughter – the love was still there – but she was no longer sure she knew who the little girl was. And what would Isis think of her now that she knew the truth?

"I should talk to them," Laura told her husband. "I'm the one that gave the order."

He shook his head, pulling his uniform jacket back on. "No. They're my officers. They're my responsibility…Stay here with the children."

"But – " Kacey started to protest. Adama fixed her with a look that meant that there was no room for discussion.

"Stay here. This…this will be better done with as small of an audience as possible."

Her eyes were downcast. "Yes, Sir."

"Come with me," he told Maya.

* * *

Upon knocking on the hatch to the 'family bunkroom', the Admiral was informed by Tyrol that the Agathons had left their quarters so they wouldn't wake the others. They hadn't said where they would be going, but Adama had some idea.

For most, it would be hard to understand why Sharon would ever want to return to the room where she'd been held captive for over a year upon arriving with the fleet. However, the Admiral had gotten to know her well over the years. She tended to visit the now-abandoned cell when she had something she needed to think over alone or just wanted some time to reflect on exactly how far her life had come. Now, it seemed like an easy place to retreat to when the world turned upside down.

Adama slowly opened the outer hatch, taking a moment to absorb the scene inside. The Agathons were actually inside the cage together, although the door was wide open. KJ was sleepily sitting in his father's arms while Sharon held Isis/Hera like she was never going to let her go. He couldn't hear what they were discussing through the thick glass, but all conversation stopped when Sharon picked up the sound of the door hinges creaking lightly. Helo set his son down with his wife and got up to meet his commanding officer.

"You knew?" were the first words out of his mouth as he crossed the threshold of the cage. "You knew she was alive, where she was, all this time? You let us believe…"

"Our goal was to protect all of you," Adama said, standing his ground. That did no good.

"Protect?" Helo exclaimed. "How could you, of all people, Sir, let someone else think their child is dead when they're not?"

"She was a potential target," he added before turning his eyes to Sharon, "And at the time, we did not know if you could be trusted."

She looked like she'd been sucker-punched. "I did anything you asked for. Gave you any information you wanted. How…" Anger and tears both boiled up at once, leaving her unable to speak. Gently, carefully, Isis put a comforting hand over her mother's. Everyone noticed.

"Isis…" Maya started to call to her, but realized she didn't know what else to say.

"I'm okay, Mom," she replied, and could feel Sharon flinch at the sound of the word. Immediately Isis felt guilty, but how was she supposed to turn her back on the woman that had raised her for all these years?

"This conversation may be better suited for the morning, once everyone's had some time and some sleep," Adama said. No one verbally agreed, but they didn't disagree, either.

Sharon noticed that Maya was looking at Isis expectantly, and shot the woman a glare. "I'm not letting her out of my sight," she proclaimed. "The last time I did that, I lost her for eight years." Helo gave the Admiral a look that dared him to argue.

"Come to my office in the morning," was all he finally said. Isis nodded to Maya that she would be all right, and was happy when her adopted mother did follow the admiral out. Sharon hugged her a little closer.

* * *

TBC... 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm sorry new chapters are taking a bit longer than I'd hoped; school/my RA started this week and life is crazy, so I haven't had time for editing. I'll get it all online eventually, I swear!

* * *

Helo and Sharon stayed all night in 'Containment Alpha' with their children. Both Hera/Isis and KJ had eventually fallen asleep, but their parents kept vigil over them as the hours passed. 

"She's so beautiful," Sharon whispered at one point as she ever-so-gently brushed her daughter's hair away from her face while the girl slept in her arms.

"I can't take my eyes off the two of you," Helo replied, a smile on his face.

"All these years…I always wished I hadn't left her that day – wished she hadn't been alone when…Now it's different. If I hadn't left her, they never could have taken her away."

"It's not your fault, Shar. There was no way we could have known. I never imagined anyone would do something like this to us…Does she know?"

"I tried to explain what happened – "

"No, no, I mean…does she know WHY they did it. Does she know what she is, what you are?"

She shook her head. "She linked to me, probably unconsciously, but…"

"We're going to have to explain it. She's been raised thinking she was human."

Sharon looked down at her daughter. "Take KJ back to our room when they wakes up," she finally said. "I-I'll tell her."

* * *

The guys were in charge of getting some coffee and juice for them once both children were awake, which gave Hera/Isis and Sharon some time alone. They didn't have a change of clothes for the little girl, but at least her hair could be brushed out. 

"Does KJ go to school?" she asked at one point as Sharon tried to get a few last stubborn tangles out.

"No, there's no school on Galactica; there aren't that many children. We teach our kids to read and write and some basic math, and once he's a little older, if he wanted to go to school on another ship, that would be fine."

"I've always been in school, even when I was too little. I learned everything early because my..." she stopped herself before the word 'Mom' could escape her mouth. "B-because she's a teacher," the little girl lamely finished.

"That's not the only reason you learned so quickly," Sharon quietly replied. "When we first met, did you...feel something, in the back of your mind? Kind of like fleeting thoughts you really had to concentrate on in order to understand?"

Hera/Isis frowned. "I-I think so. How did you know?"

"Because I felt the same thing. It's a data link; it would allow us to get certain information from each other if we wanted to."

"I've never heard of that before."

"I know. That's because most people don't have them."

"How come we do?"

"Because we're not like everyone else, Hera...I'm a Cylon."

The little girl's eyes went big and she jumped up from her seat, stepping away. "Cylon?" she repeated. "Y-you...Do people know?"

Sharon tried to remind herself that rejection was a normal reaction, no matter how much it hurt. "Yes. I was assigned...I was supposed to pretend to be another person, someone that was hiding within the fleet. That was how I could complete my mission."

"What mission?"

"Having you." Whatever answer Hera/Isis was expecting, that wasn't it. "My reason for existing was to have your father love me, and to have you."

"That's all? I mean...you weren't going to do anything bad?"

"No. I could have, but...you and your dad meant too much to me. Showed me what was so important about love."

"So...I'm half a Cylon...does that mean I could be bad?"

"No, sweetie. The others do 'bad' things by choice, not by nature. There are certain things about us that are different from everyone else, but...that just makes us special, okay?"

She considered it for a long moment before nodding. "I'm not really any different from before, am I? I just didn't know then."

Sharon smiled. "Yeah, you can think of it that way...You can ask me anything else you want to know, okay? I know it's a lot to deal with."

"Okay...Does this mean I'm half a machine?"

Sharon laughed. "Sort of. We don't think of ourselves that way, though. We're people...with a unique connection to technology..."

* * *

The admiral was waiting on his couch when Maya, and then the Agathons (minus KJ) arrived in his office later that morning. Silence reigned for a long moment after everyone sat down. "Do you have questions?" Adama finally asked, speaking directly to Hera/Isis. She glanced at Sharon, who was holding her hand, as well as Maya before answering. 

"Yes, Sir…What happens now?"

"That's up to all of us, not just me."

"Now we get a vote?" Sharon couldn't help but blurt.

"You were born at a difficult time," Adama told the little girl. "We didn't know yet that some Cylons could be allies and friends if we allowed them to be…We couldn't see them as people."

"So you lied?"

"Yes, we did…At the time, it was for your safety, and for our own. We thought you would be happy and well taken care of."

"I was," she instantly spoke up, giving Maya an apologetic look. "My mom has always been really good to me…But things aren't so simple anymore."

Adama shook his head slightly. "No, they're not."

Hera/Isis took a deep breath before turning to Maya. "Mom, I'm sorry, but…I think I want to stay here for now. I want to get to know…get to know my parents."

Adama knew that this couldn't be coming as a surprise to the woman, but he still felt for her. This wasn't the way that any of them had thought things would end up. "H-how long would you like to stay?" she asked, her voice gravelly.

"I'm not sure. I just…there's a lot to take in."

After a long moment, Maya nodded. "Okay, we'll stay."

* * *

The next part of the conversation was the 'adults only' portion, Hera/Isis supposed; Adama suggested that she go have some time with her brother while he talked with all three of her parents. Upon entering the family bunkroom, she found that KJ and Kacey were there, looking over papers. 

"Hera!" the little boy exclaimed when he saw his sister. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"They're coming in a little bit…Are you like us, too?" she asked Kacey. "I get this weird thing in the back of my mind when I'm with…with Sharon, and it's kinda the same with KJ – and now you, too."

She offered a little smile. "Yeah, I'm a hybrid, too. My mom's human and my real dad's a Cylon. I haven't seen him since I was really little."

"We say we're cousins," KJ told his sister. "I guess now you're her cousin, too."

"I've never had any family other than my mom…A cousin would be cool."

They were all still sitting together, talking, when Sharon and Helo returned. "Do you guys want some breakfast?" Sharon asked her kids. "First meal as a family."

"Can Kacey come, too?" KJ asked. "She's family."

Sharon looked away from them. "No, she's an Adama."

"Shar – " Helo started, but she shut him up with an icy glare.

"You're mad I didn't say anything," Kacey deduced. "I've seen this coming for years. Everything happens for its own reasons in its own time."

"Considering how much effort and how many lives were spent to make you part of this fleet – part of humanity – I would've thought you'd have stopped being your father's daughter by now."

Kacey stared in shock for a long moment before bolting out the door. "You feel better now?" Helo shot at his wife before leading their kids out of the room.

* * *

TBC... 


	6. Chapter 6

Kacey's favorite hiding spot on the ship was the pilot's ready room. She could tuck herself away between the last two rows of seats and escape. Sometimes briefings even got held while she was in there and no one would ever find her. That morning, the person who did finally locate her was a complete surprise.

"Kacey?" Hera/Isis called as she came into the room. "Kacey?" The blonde wiped her eyes and reluctantly stood up. "What are you doing back there?"

"How'd you find me?"

"I don't know, I just thought about it really hard and then…started walking. That's a Cylon thing, isn't it?" Kacey came to join her in the front of the room.

"It's more of a hybrid thing…Is someone going to be coming looking for you soon?"

"I dunno. I said that I wanted to think for a little while. Sharon made me promise to stay away from the hangar, so she probably won't come looking for me here." She noticed Kacey tense at the mention of her mother's name. "So…you knew all along that I didn't belong where I was?"

"You DID belong where you were…and now you belong here. It's kinda confusing. I have dreams sometimes, and I see things…it gives me ideas for how things are supposed to fit together. You wouldn't be the person you are now if you hadn't lived with Maya all this time."

"No…Would that be bad?"

"It could be. Destiny's complicated. When you met me and KJ in the mess, I thought maybe I was supposed to tell you the truth. But really, things were supposed to end up the way they did – you saw Sharon and then you knew."

Hera/Isis considered that. "So it was my destiny not to find my parents until now?"

"Not exactly…Our true destinies haven't come to be yet. But they will, and if we're not the right people, then things won't happen the way they're supposed to. That's why I couldn't say anything."

" Sharon understands," Hera realized. "She's not angry because you can see destiny – she's angry because it couldn't be changed."

"I didn't think she'd REALLY be mad at me…We all want the same thing, Hera – we want to forget that we're different. You can't truly belong if you're different. I guess if she thinks that I'm different from her, it makes her more like everyone else."

Hera hugged her friend. "But I like that we're different. She told me this morning that it makes us special."

Kacey sighed. "Special isn't always good."

* * *

When Kacey went looking for her grandfather that afternoon, she wasn't expecting to hear Lee's voice loudly coming through the Admiral's cracked-open door. 

"Gods know I would have been the first one to put her and her kid out an airlock back then, but. . .Frak, Dad, how could you keep this from them all these years?"

"Once it was done, there didn't seem to be a purpose in undoing it."

"They thought she was dead!" Adama was silent. "And what the hell did you think you were doing involving Kacey in this?"

"She involved herself. She knew all along that Hera was out there, and understood the need to protect her."

"Understood?!? She's eight years old! I don't even understand; what the frak makes you think she does?"

"She's smarter than you give her credit for, Lee. Always has been."

"Yeah, her father's little science project." Kacey felt tears welling in her eyes again as she turned away and headed back down the hall. She'd lived most of her life as a member of the Colonial Fleet – why was everyone still so strongly identifying her with Leoben?

"In the future," Lee continued, back in Adama's office, "If you're going to keep completely frakking up your officers' lives, do Kara and me a favor and leave our daughter out of it."

* * *

Kacey tried to spend as little time as possible around people for the next few days; she didn't feel like getting ANOTHER earful from someone close to her. She spent a lot of time in the observation deck or hiding in little-used sections of the Battlestar. Kara soon noticed what was going on. 

"Hey, Kace, how 'bout you come down to the hangar with me this morning?" she asked her daughter as Kacey was finishing getting dressed.

"No, thanks. I. . .I've got stuff to work on."

"Let me rephrase that – Kace, we're going down to the hangar." She extended a hand in her daughter's direction. Kacey finally accepted it, and they left their bunkroom.

Down on deck, Kara headed for one of the Raptors that were being serviced. "You think you're ready to learn a little maintenance work for the ECO console?" she asked as they both climbed inside.

Kacey frowned, cocking her head in confusion. "But the Chief said that I couldn't do it for another two years."

Kara smiled. "I worked on him. He still doesn't want you changing out equipment, but you can start learning how to test systems. Interested?"

"Sure."

"There's one condition, though – you've gotta tell me what's been going on with you."

Kacey sighed, staring at the floor. Kara sat at the ECO's station and just waited for her to be ready. "Never mind," she finally whispered, stepping out of the ship's cabin.

"Kacey!" Kara reached for her, but she dodged her mother's hand – and wound up with a scratch on her face as a result. "Oh, Gods, Kace…"

The little girl wiped at the cut on her cheek. "It's fine."

"I didn't mean to, I mean, I wasn't trying to – " Kacey put her hands on her mother's shoulders.

"I'm fine, Mom. It was an accident. I'm sorry, I just…I don't think I can talk about it."

"You know I'll always be here if you need me, right?"

"I know."

Kara slowly nodded. "Go clean this up."

"It's okay, it's just a scratch." Kacey wiped at the mark again. "It's not even bleeding anymore."

"All right…Go grab a clipboard, then."

"Really?" Kacey asked. "Even though…"

"Yeah. Move it, Nugget." She instantly jumped down from the ship. Kara put her head in her hands, trying to push away images that blended her own past with Kacey's present. It might have been an accident, but it was one that could never happen again.

Kacey carefully climbed back up into the Raptor and waited for her mother to acknowledge her. She didn't know much about Kara's childhood, but didn't need to in order to sense that something was going on. Kara finally looked up and took the clipboard her daughter was holding. "Okay, let's get to work…"

* * *

TBC... 


	7. Chapter 7

As much as Kacey enjoyed that morning with her mother, being with KJ and Hera/Isis was easier than anyone else. They didn't need to talk to know what was going on with each other and had bonded quickly. Hera/Isis hadn't had that easy of a time, either. She was slowly starting to get to know her birth family, but felt torn between them and her adoptive mother – their current predicament couldn't be blamed on any of them, but they were all paying the price.

"You want to come to dinner with me tonight?" Hera/Isis asked Kacey as the three children looked over star charts on the observation deck. "I'm eating with my mom – Maya."

Kacey smiled, appreciating her friend's struggle with nomenclature. "Sure."

"Me, too?" KJ asked. "Mom and Dad ore on duty." Sharon and Helo had gotten a few days away from their responsibilities on the ship to spend with their family, but in the end, they'd gone back to work. Their feelings toward their superiors didn't change the fact that they were still soldiers and still needed.

"Yeah, sure."

"Attention all hands," a voice came over the wireless system. "Commence jump prep."

KJ looked up at the girls. "Which constellation do you hope we find?" he asked them.

"Cancer," Hera/Isis replied.

"Taurus," Kacey added. Both constellations were four away from the three the fleet had previously located – Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn – and could be an enormous help in finding Earth. Somewhere along the line, KJ had decided it was good luck before a jump to declare what you desired to be on the other side.

Everything warped as the ship moved to its destination. The children began looking out the window and counting the ships they could see, checking if everyone who had been visible before was still out there.

"What's that?" Hera/Isis asked as she realized that one of the hulks of metal nearby hadn't been there before.

Kacey frowned. "I'm not sure."

In Galactica's CIC, everyone was also trying to figure out what they'd just jumped in on top of. "It's not registering as Cylon," one of the officers on duty reported to Adama. "Whatever it is…it's OLD. Serious material decay."

The Admiral stared up at the screens over the center console. "An abandoned ship…" he murmured to himself, "Left behind on the way to Earth? Major!" Lee looked up from his spot across the room, talking with one of the other command crew. "Take two Raptors; see what you can find."

* * *

Lee found his wife and gave her command of one of the search teams while he took the other himself. They got together the best Raptor pilots left in the fleet – Athena and Racetrack – plus a few marines and did a quick mission prep in the hangar. Everyone was suited up, briefed, and ready to go within the hour. 

"I want comm. lines open at all times," Lee told the group as they climbed up into their birds.

Upon leaving Galactica, both Raptors circled the abandoned ship several times, examining its exterior. The rest of the fleet had moved away, just as a precaution. Galactica was the closest ship, and it was still a few minutes away at top speed. The CAP circled around behind the Battlestar, the little ships barely visible in the enormous blackness of space.

The ship was comparable in size to Colonial One and had probably been home to a few hundred people at one point in time. The deterioration was severe, but it didn't look like the ship had been brought down in battle. Everyone was outfitted with flight suits since the probability of finding a habitable atmosphere onboard was low.

"Found the docking bay," Kara reported in. "Aft section, starboard side."

"Copy that, Starbuck," Sharon responded from her spot in the other Raptor.

A huge flash of light made everyone in both ships look away. In that instant, Lee realized that the only way an FTL jump would produce that big of a flash was if whatever had just appeared was practically on top of them.

"Search teams, return to Galactica!" he yelled, even as the massive Basestar above them began bombarding the fleet with weapons fire. They'd fallen straight into a Cylon trap without a second thought. As the Raptors struggled to find a way to navigate through the Cylons' firing solution, they could see Colonial ships begin to jump away.

"We're hit!" he heard Racetrack yell and looked out the canopy to see the other Raptor begin to lose attitude control.

"Galactica, Apollo; we need the jump coordinates. We'll meet up with you on the other side."

"Copy that, Apollo."

"Apollo, Starbuck…FTL drive…"

"Say again, Starbuck, you're breaking up."

"…FTL gone…" Lee swore under his breath. "…back to Galactica…" But their attempt to make a run for the Battlestar didn't work. The Raptor's engines quickly gave out with a nice flash of fire.

"Can we get a tow on them?" Lee asked Sharon.

"Even if we could, there's no way we'd be able to drag them all the way back to Galactica without getting our own ass tagged."

"ETA on CAP?"

"Galactica's already recalled them," their ECO reported. Lee muttered another curse.

"Options?" he called out. There wasn't an answer. "I'm not going to just abandon that ship!"

"If we cut power, I think I might be able to give our FTL system enough juice to get both ships a short distance," the ECO commented, fingers already flying over the controls.

"That means we need to connect up," Lee deduced. Sharon started going through the necessary maneuvers. "When you say cut power – how much?"

The ECO glanced up. "Everything down to life support. And there's a good chance we'll blow our own drive in the process." Lee didn't like it, but they didn't have a choice.

"Send Galactica the coordinates we're going to; someone's going to have to come find us."

* * *

Standing in Galactica's CIC, Adama had already watched every civilian ship disappear off of Dradis as they each jumped away. Now, he watched as the two remaining Colonial signals merged into one. "Galactica, Apollo; we have Raptor 295. See you soon." 

"Copy that, Apollo," the communications officer replied. The dot on the Dradis screen disappeared a moment later. Adama picked up the receiver at the center console.

"All hands, prepare for FTL jump."

Once they came out on the other side, the command crew began to verify their position and check the status of the rest of the fleet. "Everyone's accounted for," Tigh told the Admiral.

He nodded. So far, so good, but he couldn't breathe easy yet. "Have two Raptors sent to pick up our search teams."

* * *

After almost eight years of flying together, Lee was impressed that Sharon's piloting skills could still surprise him from time to time. She'd brought their Raptor up belly-to-belly with Kara's – no easy task considering it was still on an erratic flightpath – and managed to keep the two ships close together while their ECO finished his modifications and got the FTL online. 

When the ships made it through the jump and Sharon backed away a bit, the first thing Lee noticed out the canopy was that both of them were missing the tips of their wings and tails – elongating the FTL "bubble" to encompass the other ship hadn't been 100 effective. However, both crew cabins were still intact. "Nice job," he congratulated the ECO.

The younger man smiled before beginning to calculate their new position. Lee didn't like the fact that he heard him mutter, "Frak," a few moments later.

"What?"

"We still didn't have enough power."

"How far did we get?"

"Nowhere near our estimated position… Athena, are the sublight engines still responding?"

She jabbed at a few buttons "Negative. We've lost just about everything."

"What's the problem, Lieutenant?" Lee asked.

"We might still be in Dradis range for the Cylons."

* * *

TBC... 


	8. Chapter 8

When Adama went looking for his grandchildren, he found both of them – along with KJ, Hera/Isis, and Nicholas Tyrol – in their bunkroom. The tables had been pushed to the side in order to allow a girls-v-boys pyramid game to be played. Kacey did a little victory dance, giving Hera/Isis a hug, when she scored a goal. Too small to play, Zak was sitting out of the way on his sister's bed, keeping score with a small slate they'd 'borrowed' from the pilot's briefing room. He was the first to notice his grandfather's presence.

"Hi, Grandpa!" he called.

Kacey looked up at him, the ball dropping from her hands, and Adama wished in that moment that she wasn't so intuitive of a child. The look of fear that crossed her face was like a knife in his chest. "Where are Mom and Dad?" she asked. "They're supposed to be back by now, aren't they? We jumped forever ago."

"There…there were some problems with one of the Raptors. We were supposed to pick them up at alternate coordinates, but…there was no one there when we sent another ship."

"Maybe they're just coming here in little jumps," KJ supplied.

"They wouldn't have left the rendezvous point," Kacey told him. "It's against protocol. If they could have gotten to the point, they would have."

"So what does that mean?" Hera/Isis asked. "Where are they?"

"We're not sure. We're going to continue looking for them…but it's possible their ships didn't make it through the jump."

"Admiral Adama to CIC. Admiral to the CIC," a voice announced over the speakers.

"Stay here," he told the children. "We're still looking for them."

Once the hatch shut behind him, none of the children moved for a long moment. "Nicky, stay with Zak," Kacey told her friend.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To find out what's going on."

* * *

Ever since Kacey had been old enough to freely roam on the ship, it had been drilled into her head that CIC was STRICTLY off-limits, but at the moment, she didn't care. There'd been many close calls over the years with their parents – after all, they WERE military pilots – but no other incident had been this large in scale. One of the hatches to the room had been left open, and she quietly slipped into the back unnoticed, hiding behind consoles that weren't currently in use. The voice of one of the rescue Raptor's pilots was being piped through speakers around the large room. 

"…seems like the beacon's about five SU away from the rendezvous point. We recorded part of the message being played."

"Patch it through," Adama ordered the communications officer.

"We have recovered your ships," a man announced; Kacey realized at that moment that she'd almost forgotten what her real father's voice sounded like. "Everyone is unharmed. All we ask for in exchange for their safe return is that you send our daughters home.".

* * *

Lee wasn't sure what had happened to most of the search team; upon being brought onto the Basestar, he, Kara, and Sharon had been put in one bright, metal room while Racetrack and the marines had been taken somewhere else. They hadn't seen a single toaster since and it had been several hours. 

That's why he was completely taken aback when he noticed a little face peering at them from the edge of the doorway. The blonde-haired boy – who was about the same age as KJ – silently watched them, his face an impassive mask.

"Kara," Lee quietly said, tipping his head toward their small visitor. All three pilots got up from their seats on the floor as the child stepped toward them. He stopped directly in front of Kara and stared up at her for a long moment.

"Hello, Mommy."

Kara took a quick step backwards and probably would have kept going if she hadn't found herself against the wall. "What?"

"Daddy wants to see you. He says Kacey's coming home soon, too. Then we'll be a family."

She hoped it wasn't visible how much that prospect terrified her. "Not a chance in hell."

"Daddy says – "

"He's a frakking liar!" she shot, fear and frustration bubbling up, bringing 'Starbuck' forward while 'Kara' was left with her mind reeling. Some part of her wanted to deny that Leoben had done this to her yet again – brought one more person into this twisted game – but deep down she knew.

"You don't have to be afraid, Mommy. Daddy is patient."

"He'll be waiting an eternity, then. This will never be my home or your sister's. We have a home and a life and our own family already."

The boy's gaze shifted to Lee. "With him?" he asked. No one offered verbal confirmation; it wasn't needed. The child looked back toward the door; moments later, a centurion clanged in, headed straight for Lee. With one massive metal hand, it backhanded him, knocking him from his feet.

"Lee!" Kara cried, starting to move toward him, but the boy grabbed her hand and held her in place with amazing strength that came from nowhere. Lee made a valiant effort at fighting back, but without weapons he was absolutely no match for the centurion as it knocked him around. "Stop!" Kara angrily told the boy, but he appeared not to hear. She finally managed to wrench her arm away, and lashed out on pure instinct, striking him across the face. Almost instantly, the centurion turned away from Lee and grabbed Kara by the neck, pinning her against the wall.

"No!" the child yelled, wiping the blood away from his split lip with the back of his hand. "Stand down," he ordered, and the centurion let her go, turning and walking out of the room. The boy followed a moment later. Kara had sunk to the ground, but crawled over to Lee once they were gone.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. Sharon knelt on his other side.

"I'll get back to you on that," Lee said, wincing as he tried to sit up. "Kara, was that really…Is he actually…"

She slowly nodded. "I hit him, Lee."

He took her hand. "You didn't mean to."

"Yes, I did. I was just…I had to get him to stop, I wasn't thinking of anything beyond that."

"You'd never do it to Kacey or Zak." He wasn't expecting that statement to bring tears to her eyes. "Kara?"

"That cut on her face…"

"Oh, Gods."

"It was an accident; it just…happened. But now…"

"The fact that this has got you so torn up means you're not your mother, Kara. You wouldn't do something like that to Kace or Zak. You hear me?" She slowly nodded.

* * *

In the Basestar's command center, Leoben inspected his son's face. "You know she didn't mean to?" he asked the little boy. He nodded. 

"It's all his fault…You have to get rid of him, Daddy."

"I've wanted to do so for a long while, and finally I think the time is right."

"We're picking up a transmission," one of the Number Eights said as she approached. "It's being routed through the beacon we deployed."

Leoben smiled at his son. "Maybe it's a message from your sister," he said as he took the boy's hand and led him to one of the interface panels.

Sure enough, Kacey's voice began playing a moment later. "We're holding position at your beacon…The next move is yours."

* * *

TBC...  



	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: thanks to everyone who's diligently been following along. School/my RA aren't letting me finish editing as fast as I'd like, but I promise I WILL finish. Keep the reviews coming; they're great inspiration.**

* * *

As soon as Kacey had heard her father's message, she knew that it was highly likely nothing would ever be the same again. However Hera/Isis didn't share her gift, and had just been thrown into this world. 

"They'd kill my mom?" she quietly asked as the two girls sat together in the observation deck.

"Probably. She helped to take me away from my real father. And she kept you away from the other Cylons."

"Why did they want us in the first place?"

"It's complicated…they think that they're following the will of their creator, their God. But…from what my mom's taught me about religion, I don't think a God that would want to wipe out civilizations would be a good God."

Hera looked down at her hands. "I'm scared," she whispered. "I don't understand all of this. What are they going to want with us?"

"I'm not sure…but I can't let anything happen to my Mom."

* * *

Hera agreed with her friend that she didn't want anything to happen to her real mother, but that didn't make the prospect of going to the Cylons any less terrifying. Kacey said she had something she needed to do, so that gave Hera a little while alone. She passed her little brother in the hallway as she headed back to Maya's quarters. 

"What's going on?" KJ asked her.

"Nothing," she quietly replied. "There's nothing going on."

"Kacey's going to do something, isn't she?" he asked, not believing his sister for a second. "She's good at that. She did something when the Raiders were attacking the fleet before. I want to help!"

"We're not doing anything, KJ, go away."

The younger boy frowned. "No! She's my mom, too, and she's been mine longer." That didn't get a response. "Dad hasn't been back from CIC all day; something's really wrong, isn't it?"

"It's going to be okay. Go home and wait for Dad, okay? He's going to need you." She started to turn away from him, but KJ caught his sister's hand.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"Go home, KJ," she quietly replied before pulling away and continuing down the hall.

* * *

There was one piece of information that was absolutely critical to Kacey's plan, and she unfortunately had only one way to acquire it. She was certain that if Lee was here, he'd just about murder her for intentionally connecting directly to the Cylon data stream, but she couldn't think of another solution. She and Hera had to do this themselves – the risk of trusting someone else, and putting their life in danger as well, was just too great. 

Sitting in the back of the pilot's ready room, she cleared her mind as much as she could and reached out to find the information she sought. She was somewhat aware of the presence of other minds near her own, trying to determine who she was and what she wanted, but she ignored them, blocking them to the best of her ability.

When she'd been a very small girl, just after her mother had brought her to Galactica, she'd had her link to the other Cylons disabled. She'd been too little to do it on her own, unable to fully comprehend everything that she was doing even with her advanced mind. Sharon had had to help her, and that had required a procedure that Kacey now needed to duplicate. If two bio-Cylon minds – two organic computers – could be connected together, then surely she could connect herself to a slower, less complicated man-made computer. She just needed to find out how to do it without permanently damaging herself. Or the other computer.

Just as she found what she was looking for, someone else's thoughts drifted too close to her own – someone familiar, and at the same time completely unknown. Kacey closed her connection before they could get something from her that she didn't want to give away, her heart pounding.

Who had almost discovered her? It was almost like they were…but that wasn't possible. Was it?

* * *

Maya looked up as she saw Hera/Isis come in the door to her quarters. "Hey, sweetheart. Your friend didn't want to come?" 

"I-I can't go to dinner tonight," she quietly said.

"Oh…But I thought – "

"I just can't, Mom. There's something…there's something that came up."

Maya tried to swallow her disappointment. She was losing her daughter one day at a time. "Tomorrow night, then?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you could spend the night here tonight?"

"No. I want to, I really do, I just…I can't." The fact that her daughter was almost in tears had her mother concerned.

"It's okay, sweetheart, we'll reschedule…You know that I love you, right, Isis?"

She was instantly in her mother's arms, trying and failing to hold back her tears. "I love you, too, Mom. Always have and always will."

Maya pulled back a little, looking in the little girl's eyes. "What's all this about?" she asked as she gently wiped her tears.

"Nothing. Just…there's been a lot going on."

She sighed. "I know it's just as hard on you as it is on everyone else. If not harder…You tell Sharon and Helo to make sure they take care of my girl, okay?"

Hera/Isis swallowed hard. "I-I will…Love you," she added one more time before heading back out the hatch – possibly leaving her old life behind for good.

* * *

The fact that Kacey had spent a few days that week working with her mother on deck meant that she was privy to the repair schedule for the different Raptors in Galactica's hanger. Raptor 384 had just finished going through a big overhaul, and was scheduled for a return to duty the following morning. That made it the perfect vehicle for her plan. 

Hera/Isis had been extremely nervous about someone on the deck crew catching her wandering around and throwing her off the deck, but that didn't happen. 384 was tucked back in the corner of the hanger, and no one noticed as she climbed up on its wing and into its cockpit.

"Ready?" Kacey asked her 'cousin.'

"No," Hera/Isis replied, but she wasn't backing down. Kacey smiled slightly.

"Push that button to close the hatch," she ordered, "And…don't look if you don't like blood."

"Why?" the other girl asked as she obeyed her friend's first command. She looked back in time to see Kacey taking a knife to her left arm. "What are you doing???"

She winced as blood started to flow. "I told you, I don't know how to fly."

"Then how are we supposed to get off the ship?"

"The Raptor knows how."

Hera/Isis frowned. "Huh?"

"Every button and switch in here is linked to a computer. The computer has software that lets it know that flipping a certain switch means to do a certain thing – like fire up the FTL. If I'm part of the computer system, then I'll know what to do, too."

Hera warily watched, flinching, as Kacey put a data cable in her wound. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"No. That's why I got the instructions from someone who did…You're probably going to want to sit down."

Being part of the Raptor's computer was somewhat like connecting to the Cylon data stream, and somewhat unlike anything Kacey had ever done before. She could turn on systems with a thought and instead of requiring the completion of numerous calculations and the entering of several different values, plotting a jump was almost as simple as visualizing a star chart and picking a location. She understood why networking Galactica's systems was so dangerous, but if someone could fly the whole Battlestar like this…it would be the most amazing experience.

"Jumping in five…four….three…." she told Hera, "Two….one."

A sound like a minor explosion raced through the hangar deck, the strong force from rapidly shifting air molecules sending objects flying from their perches and triggering alarms. Raptor 384 had vanished into thin air, leaving a divot in the floor beneath where she'd sat.

"Frak me," Galen Tyrol muttered as he stared at the empty spot where one of his fighters had been located only moments before.

* * *

TBC... 


	10. Chapter 10

It didn't take long after Kacey sent her message before a Heavy Raider jumped in near them. "Welcome home," Leoben's voice came over the Raptor's communication system. Both girls were back at the ECO station.

"Where are the others?" Kacey asked.

"Back with our fleet. Come with me now, and they can have your ship to return home."

Hera/Isis wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. "We won't have any way to get home ourselves," she whispered to Kacey.

"Just…trust," she told the other girl, once again accessing the Raptor's FTL drive. "Don't mention KJ unless someone else does."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think they know about him. And he'll be safer if it stays that way."

* * *

By the time their Raptor set down inside of a Basestar, Kacey was beginning to wonder if her attempt to connect herself to the ship hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped. She didn't feel right at all, and wasn't sure if that was something Cylon or due to blood loss. Kacey didn't make a move to get up from her seat at the ECO's console as the Raptor's hatch opened. Her father's face came into view, and she couldn't do much besides watch as he carefully disconnected her and lifted her into his arms. 

"My beautiful girl," Leoben whispered to her as he held her close.

Her eyes shifted, the sixth sense in the back of her mind picking up the presence of one of the people waiting beside the Raptor. A small blonde boy. "Daddy…"

Leoben's smile grew wider, and he carried Kacey down from the Colonial ship. "Meet your brother, Uri," he told her. "We've been waiting a very long time for you."

"Light?" Kacey asked, inquiring as to the meaning of her brother's name.

"He was to show us the way, how to follow God's will. That was what you asked of me, wasn't it?" Somehow, she'd never imagined that the child looking back at her would be the end result of that. "Now our paths have once again crossed."

Hera/Isis was timidly still standing in the hatch, barely in sight, and watching the scene before her with wide eyes. She looked up, however, as one of the number eights approached her. "Mom?"

The woman smiled kindly. "Not exactly."

* * *

Back on Galactica, KJ looked up from the book he was reading with Zak and Nicky when the hatch to their bunkroom was flung open. Helo paused in the doorway for a seemingly eternal moment before crossing the room in quick strides and lifting his son up into a hug. 

"Dad?" the little boy asked, confused.

"Oh, Gods, someone on deck saw Kacey before the ship left, and we had no idea what had happened…" That made little-to-no sense to the young boy.

"What ship? What are you talking about, Dad?"

"Where's your sister?"

And then it started to click. "I-I don't know."

"Have you seen her recently?"

"Uh, yeah," he sheepishly admitted. "I-I think she and Kacey were up to something, but she wouldn't tell me what. Where's Mom? What's going on? Kacey snuck into CIC before, but wouldn't tell anybody but Hera what she heard."

Helo sighed and hugged his son closer, both angry with the girls for leaving and thankful that they hadn't taken his son with them. He knew that Adama was going to be an even-less happy man once he passed the information he'd gotten along. "Come with me," he told KJ, setting the child down on his feet. "I need you to tell someone exactly what your sister told you."

* * *

It had been completely unexpected when two centurions and a Number Six model came to the room where Lee, Kara, and Sharon were being held and ordered all of them to get up and follow them through the ship. They met up with the rest of the search team along the way – none of them appeared any worse for wear. 

Upon arriving in the Basestar's hangar, Kara and Sharon were horrified to see their daughters there. Kacey was semi-conscious in Leoben's arms, Uri standing beside them. Kara instantly tried to go to her, but was held back by one of the Centurions. "What the frak did you do to her?"

"Nothing," Leoben replied simply. "She did it to herself – for you."

"Go home, Mom," Kacey quietly said, looking up through half-lidded eyes. "You can't stay here."

"I'm NOT leaving you."

"You have to."

"You have to go, too," Hera/Isis told Sharon from her place with two other Number Eights. "It's not safe. That's why we came."

"I've given up my own safety for you before," she replied. "I have no problem doing it again." Both girls looked at each other, worried. This wasn't the way things were supposed to go. Hera/Isis had trusted that Kacey's plan to get them to the Cylons would work, but never imagined that the most important hostages wouldn't want to be rescued.

"Some sins could be forgiven," Leoben told Sharon, as though that was supposed to make her feel better. "However, I advise anyone else considering not getting on that ship that we have no reason to keep you alive if you don't." Lee was the only one who wasn't already at least standing on the Raptor's wing. Leaving his family behind was not an option, but at the same time, if he didn't, he'd be of absolutely no use to them.

Kara was pretty sure she could feel her heart break as she locked eyes with her husband. The last thing she ever wanted to be again was a prisoner to Leoben, but just like the first time, there was no way she was leaving Kacey to him. They'd been saved once – it could happen again. "Go, Lee," she quietly said.

"Kara – "

"Please…Take care of Zak." Uri's eyes narrowed at the mention of his half-brother. Lee never looked away as he climbed up onto the Raptor's wing and stepped inside. Not until the hatch closed did he finally look up. Everyone inside the ship was looking to him for what to do next.

"Start the engines," he finally quietly told Racetrack. "We're leaving, but we're not giving up. There isn't a frakking thing we can do against them in a Raptor, though."

* * *

Watching that Raptor leave was one of the hardest things Kara had ever done in her life. The only thing that helped was having Kacey's current medical condition to distract her. Leoben said they could treat their daughter, and that this was the result of trying what she did without the proper supervision, but that was of little comfort. Kara could vividly remember the first time she'd had to watch over her daughter in a medical facility because of something related to the Cylon. 

"She looks so much like you," Leoben commented at one point while he and Kara both watched Kacey sleep.

"You know she doesn't want to be here. The trip almost killed her."

"But she is here. And she'll adjust soon enough. We need her."

"She's a little girl. Nobody ought to NEED her."

"You know she's more than that, and has been since the day she was born. What was your life before I brought her into it?"

"I suppose you want a thank you for that?"

Leoben smiled. "Her importance to us is one thing we share, Kara, just in different ways. I don't intend to let either of you slip through my fingers again."

She scoffed. "Don't think I intend to make that easy for you." He didn't answer.

* * *

TBC... 


	11. Chapter 11

Kara was eventually – and extremely grudgingly – taken back to her cell, so Leoben was alone with his daughter when she awakened. "Daddy?" Kacey whispered.

"Hi, sweetheart. You feel better?"

She nodded slightly, looking around as though to get her bearings. "Where's Mom? Did you let her go home?"

"She couldn't leave you. Your home is with me now."

Kacey shook her head. "No, this isn't home."

"Shh, shh, shh. We'll head back for Caprica soon enough, and you can claim all that's been waiting for you. Do you remember Caprica and our apartment in the city? Do you remember playing in the streets? Things have changed quite a lot over the years." A few days earlier, Kacey would have struggled to pull up a memory of her very early childhood. Now, the images trickled forth more easily.

"I remember," she whispered, almost as though she was entranced by her thoughts. "I loved Caprica." Things had been simple then, and she'd been happy. She'd known where she belonged, and her father had taken wonderful care of her. Nothing had been simple after leaving her homeworld.

Leoben smiled. "I know you loved it. I've waited a very long time to be able to take you and your brother back there."

Kacey looked up at him; that word had seemingly made her more coherent. "My brother is back on Galactica."

He smiled. "Ah, yes, little Zakary. Your mother's supposed absolution for her sins."

"We're a family; Mom and me and Zak and Dad."

"He is not your father. Don't ever forget that – he won't."

She swallowed hard. "Let us go home. You have Uri; you don't need me."

Leoben gave her a tight-lipped smile. "You are unique, Kacey. God blessed you so that your future would be bright. Your brother was not as fortunate." She considered that for a long moment, debating if perhaps it was not the will of a higher power, but the love of her mother that was leading her to a different fate than Uri.

"I'm tired," she finally said, hoping that would end the conversation. Leoben tucked her blanket around her a little tighter.

"Get some more rest, then." He left her alone, but it was a long time before Kacey was able to relax enough sleep once more.

* * *

Lee had NOT been in a good mood by the time his Raptor made its way back to Galactica. He was not going to sit quietly while the Cylons tore his family apart.

"How many basestars were there?" Adama patiently asked while he poured his son a drink – a strong one.

"Three. There were three of them when we left."

"Resurrection ships?"

"I don't think so." Lee downed his drink in one gulp, and after considering the tumbler for a moment, hurled it against the wall. "Damnit, how the hell did those two get off this ship without anyone noticing?!?"

"I don't know…They must have felt very strongly that this was the only way."

"How could handing themselves over to that frakking…There had to be something else. And it's all for absolutely nothing now since both of their mothers are still with them."

"You're here. The rest of your teams are here. I wouldn't call that absolutely nothing." Lee shot his father a look that could have frozen a sun. No one else on that search team meant much to him if Kara and Kacey weren't safe, too.

Adama took off and carefully folded his glasses. "A long time ago, Kacey told me that she and Hera would take care of themselves. They've already proven their resourcefulness and the lengths they'd go to. Now…we figure out what we can do to improve their odds."

* * *

Putting together an operation would take time. Galactica against three Basestars was a decidedly unfair fight, and that assumed that the Cylons hadn't received more back-up as a defensive precaution. Lee wished they had Kara there to come up with some crazy genius plan instead of her being the one that needed the plan. He also wished he didn't have to face his son.

Zak was already curled up in bed when Lee returned to their bunkroom, but his cry of "Daddy!" proved that he wasn't yet asleep. Lee nodded his thanks to Cally for babysitting as he made his way over to his son's bed.

"Hey, sport," he said as he knelt on the floor.

"Where's Mommy n' Kacey?"

"They…they're not here right now. Daddy's trying to bring them home, okay?"

"They go 'way in ship?"

"Yeah…Close your eyes and go to sleep, all right?"

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, Zak?"

"You don't go away, too, 'kay?"

Lee kissed his son's forehead, silently both thanking Kara and cursing her for sending him back to the boy. The idea of leaving the three-year-old alone in the universe was enough to make tears well in his eyes, but at the same time he didn't know if he was strong enough to keep going on his own if, Gods forbid, something happened.

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised.

* * *

After getting Uri to bed, Leoben decided to pay his children's mother a visit. Hera was asleep in her mother's arms, but neither of the women had managed to let their guards down enough for sleep. "Come with me," he quietly told Kara, and she got up and followed him out of the room. "I didn't want to say this earlier in front of Kacey, but you're going to have to keep your temper in check," he told her as they walked, referring to the incident earlier with Uri. "I won't let you be around our children otherwise."

In her mind, Kara imagined how good punching him would feel and how easy it would be to shove a knift in his chest if she had one. Outwardly, however, she tried to remain calm. "Keep your latest science project on a shorter leash, and we won't have a problem."

Leoben smiled. "I've probably spoiled him too much. He tends to think the universe revolves around him."

"Like father, like son?"

He stopped walking, studying her for a long moment. "I've missed you, Kara. Very much. This will be our new beginning."

"You're going to have to chain me to a wall to get me to stay. Actually, forget that; you're going to have to keep me unconscious."

"You'd begun to open up to the prospect on New Caprica."

"I was playing you, Leoben, and apparently I did a pretty good job. You set up that accident with Kacey on the stairs, didn't you? You were willing to risk her life – for what?"

"For her future," he calmly replied. "She needed you, Kara. She needed your love. That incident enabled you to bond like nothing else would have."

"Would you do the same thing to Uri?"

Leoben shook his head. "It's too late for him; I'll always regret that. My…desire to manipulate fate resulted in an example of why it cannot be manipulated. His existence is miraculous, because he was not born of love, but he is also dangerous."

Kara frowned. "How?"

"Each Cylon model has a certain purpose, a certain drive that motivates everything they do. The other hybrid children share their parent's purpose, but have the human ability to develop their own desires. That is one of the most valuable things about them."

"And Uri?"

"He has no programmed motivation, nor the capability to form his own. He acts on his current thoughts and then moves on to a new idea."

"He's a loose canon," Kara deduced.

Leoben nodded. "And his failure could doom his sister and cousin."

She didn't like the sound of that. "What are you taking about?"

"We have achieved procreation, but all attempts at a large scale effort have failed. Our continuance as a species will still be dependent upon copying ourselves, but we don't want to lose the advances that Kacey and Hera have made."

Kara got a feeling like ice water down her spine. "You're going to make them into models?"

"They are our future – whether some models are willing to accept it or not."

"If you start duplicating them, and they're going to lose what makes them human."

"We're running out of time for other options." Kara stopped walking, unwilling to go any farther without being told the whole truth. Leoben sighed. "The Cylon race is fracturing apart, divided by the different ideologies for our continued evolution. For some, those girls are the answer to everything, our new beginning. Others…are not as accepting."

"You keep talking about 'the girls' – what about Uri?"

Leoben looked her straight in the eye. "His fate will differ from theirs." With that, he began walking again, and Kara had little choice but to follow.

Neither noticed that a small boy – who ought to have been asleep – had been following behind them for much of their conversation. Uri glared after his parents for a long moment before making his way back to his room, dangerous thoughts brewing in his head.

* * *

TBC... 


	12. Chapter 12

By morning, Kacey was feeling better, and the girls were allowed somewhat-free access aboard the ship. Hera found it interesting that she wasn't unnerved by spending so much time with people that looked exactly like her mother, but weren't.

"Do you all know the same things?" she asked at one point as she was taken for a little tour by two of the Eights.

"Not in the way you're thinking. Your mom was given the exact same memories as one of our sisters so that she could complete her mission. After that point, though, she had her own life, with her own memories."

"Her mission was me?" Hera asked.

"It was. But successfully completing it took her away from us. She thought she needed to protect you. When she severed her link, we couldn't learn from her anymore."

"She always thought that you hated her after she cut her link and went to Galactica," Hera informed her, and received a smile in return.

"She's still our sister – even if she is the black sheep."

* * *

Kacey was surprised to find her little brother waiting for her when she left the room where she'd been getting treated. Uri offered a small smile. "I'm glad you're feeling better." 

"Thanks." Kacey couldn't put a finger on it, but she knew that something was off with him.

"What was it like growing up with Mommy?" he asked as they started walking.

"Better than not," she easily replied. "Daddy shouldn't have done that to you."

"I liked growing up with Daddy. I was born on Caprica, too."

"There are things he can't teach…He always says that he loves you, but sometimes I wonder if he's actually capable of it, or just really wants to be. His love is different from Mom's."

Uri was quietly seething. "He doesn't tell me that." Kacey looked at him, surprised.

"Maybe he's learned better."

"What makes the Galactica so perfect?" he asked, somewhat bitterly.

"It's not…It's really not. It's hard being different there. But Mom…I know she'd do anything for me – she stayed here for me. I've gotta figure out a way to fix that."

"She doesn't want to be here?"

"She doesn't belong here. We were never part of the plan for her life; Daddy made that choice on his own. And maybe in some ways it wasn't a mistake, but…I doubt I've made things easier for her."

"She doesn't want us?"

"If someone had bothered to ask her first, I'm sure she would have said no. I know that sounds really bad, but…she could have left me on New Caprica with Daddy. She could have left me here now. Whether or not she wanted me, she loves me."

"What about me?" the boy asked. Kacey sighed.

"She doesn't know you, doesn't know if she can trust you. I was a lot littler when I met her."

"Daddy always said we would find you someday and bring you home. He said then we'd be a family. He always made it seem so wonderful, so easy."

"It is really nice most of the time," Kacey replied, thinking of her family back with the fleet, "But it's definitely not easy. My grandpa always says that nothing really worth having comes easy."

Uri frowned at the word. "Grandpa?"

"Well…he's not my real grandfather. But I love him anyway."

He didn't understand that seemingly traitorous declaration. "He's not your family, we are."

"It's not that simple," she started to try to explain, but the floor suddenly seemed to try to get away from their feet, and both of them almost ran into the wall. An alarm began to blare. "What's happening?" Kacey asked her brother, but he shrugged. They took off for the ship's control room.

* * *

Kacey stopped for a moment upon entering the large room, taking everything in. She barely noticed as her brother remained behind her on the outer fringes of the room, something he seemed unnervingly comfortable doing. Leoben, a couple other Sevens, a few Eights, a few Sixes, and a few Simons were studying the displays. One had a dradis image of what was going on outside of the ship – one of the Basestars was attacking them. 

"Why are they doing that?" Kacey asked her father as the ship was struck again. She didn't like the fact that the Sevens all shared a look before Leoben turned to her.

"I'd hoped to be able to protect you from this for a bit longer, but…There is a war beginning between the models."

"A war? About what?"

"Our futures. You and your cousin." She looked back, wide-eyed, at the image of the battle, her mind not even realizing the fact that her father had cut her little brother out of that equation. Uri, however, did and left the room virtually unnoticed. "We needed you, Kacey. You were our only products of love, something many of the other models cannot even imagine. You were supposed to teach them, demonstrate love's power. Show them the way to God's will." She shook her head slightly – how was anyone supposed to live up to that when they were only eight years old?

"How?"

"I would have taught you. We would have taken care of you, and you in return could have prevented this. The Threes have never known love. They claim to see God's will, but how can they when they have never beheld His most important gift to us? They don't understand you or your value to us."

Kacey flinched as she watched one of the dots on the dradis screen flash repeatedly, and then vanish. The other Basestar jumped away. "You destroyed them."

"We had to, to save ourselves. To save you."

"You're not supposed to hurt each other, Daddy."

He slowly nodded. "This is what we have come to without you."

* * *

TBC... 


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter; I hate midterms.**

* * *

Kacey had gotten away from the control room as fast as she could, trying to put as much space between herself and the others as possible. She'd spent so much time running away from everyone lately; frighteningly, it was becoming second nature. Avoiding everything was so much easier than dealing with the tough challenges that she faced.

She started walking throughout the ship on her own, trying to sort out her thoughts. Her gift of foresight was no longer any help to her – she had no idea what the outcome of this would be. Did she really belong on Caprica with her father and the other Cylons? No one would rescue them from there; the fleet wasn't looking backward anymore. Even the old nav system that they'd taken from a Heavy Raider years earlier wouldn't be enough to get a Colonial ship back to the Colonies; Raptors simply didn't have the power for that many jumps, and surely no one would send a larger vessel all the way back to square one. If she stayed here, if her father took her home, she would live out the rest of her life by the plans he had made.

Was that what she was destined for? Kacey had no idea. She'd had knowledge that this crossroads was coming, but no guidance on which path to take. Would things be easier back with the Cylons? Would she and Hera be accepted, or would they still be 'different'? Would this simplify their lives, or make them more complicated? Galactica would be safe now, since the Cylons would have what they wanted all along. Was this the way things were meant to be?

Kacey looked up in utter shock as she realized that the walls around her were no longer made of the sleek metal and red lights that they had been, but that she was surrounded by the darker, dinged-up, slanted walls of Galactica. Her mouth fell open slightly in shock as she glanced around. How…

"Kacey?" a voice asked from behind her, and she turned to see a Number Six. "Are you all right?"

Galactica's halls faded away, and she realized she'd been visualizing for the first time in her life – and completely unconsciously. That wasn't an accident. "F-fine," she quietly answered.

The Six regarded her carefully. "Did you see something?" she asked.

Kacey shook her head. "Just…it was nothing. I guess I'm still tired. I should go find my mom."

The blonde caught her arm before she could walk away, and Kacey instantly knew there was something special about her, different from the other models. "Where were you?" Caprica Six asked, her voice low. Kacey knew what she meant.

"G-Galactica…Don't tell my dad?"

Caprica shook her head. "I wouldn't dare. For both our sakes."

* * *

Kacey had a lot to think about as she walked back toward where her mother and Sharon were. Seeing Galactica had been a sign, the answer that she was waiting for. Now she prayed to her mother's gods that they could figure out a plan. 

Deep in contemplation, she was taken completely by surprise when a centurion grabbed her by the back of her shirt, pulling her off her feet and dragging her down the hall. She was unceremoniously thrown to the floor once the metal beast reached its destination.

"Get up," she heard a voice command, and looked to find Uri standing over her. Behind him, she could see her mother slumped in the corner, obviously having been used as a punching bag. Sharon was pinned to the wall by another centurion.

"What are you doing?" Kacey asked her brother as she tried to pull herself up into a sitting position. He kicked her.

"You ruined EVERYTHING," he shot. "Me and Daddy were fine before; we didn't need you!"

"I don't understand…"

"He only wants you now. It's not fair! I didn't abandon him!"

"Uri, stop it! I don't want to follow Daddy's plans. Make the centurions stand down!" Instead, she found herself dangling in mid-air as one of the monsters wrapped an arm around her from behind and lifted her off her feet, crushing her small body against its solid frame. "Uri!"

"If Daddy only wants one of us, then there'll only be one of us," he coldly told her.

Overriding a centurion's autonomy controls was about as easy as overriding a Raider; Kacey fell to the ground, struggling for breath, when the huge robot deactivated itself on her command. "Get out of here, Uri, or I'll tell Daddy what you did." There was a sharp metallic click as the other centurion abandoned its prisoner and traded its right hand for a gun.

"I don't care," he told her. "If I'm going to get boxed, I should make it worth it."

She only had a moment to slide behind the fallen, inactive centurion before the other one started firing. Uri had already overridden its autonomy controls; he was controlling the robot like an extension of himself. It had been years since Kacey had attempted to do the same. The best solution she could come up with was to take its targeting system offline – that would at least make hitting her more difficult. The centurion was jerkily staggering back and forth as it fired randomly at variable intervals, first responding to one child's commands, then the other's.

The thought came to Kacey that she couldn't keep doing this. The mental battle against her brother had already caused bright red blood to begin to trickle from her nose. Soon enough, other blood vessels – far more critical ones – were also going to burst.

She suddenly had the strongest desire to go home, to curl up with her grandfather in his office and read a book, to have dinner with her whole family and see everyone together. She had so much that she wanted to do in life – grow up and become a pilot, someday have a family. She wanted to have a normal life – and for her, maybe that in itself would be extraordinary.

* * *

In the Basestar's control room, Hera suddenly put her hand to her head as a spike of pain lanced through it. "Are you all right?" one of the Eights that was with her asked. 

She shook her head. "Something's wrong." It was almost like she was in two places at once – where her body physically was, and also several rooms away, at her 'cousin's side. "Kacey's in trouble."

The Eight pressed her hand against one of the sensor panels, calling up surveillance of the room. "He has to be deactivated," she observed, and began manipulating the controls. "This has to end."

"Leoben should be warned," her 'sister' advised, but her concern fell on deaf ears.

"This was his mess in the first place."

* * *

TBC... 


	14. Chapter 14

Kacey wasn't sure what had just happened; all she knew was that the Cylon that had been trying to kill her was now in a heap on the floor, and her brother was frozen in place, eyes glazed over and un-seeing.

"Are you okay?" Sharon asked her.

Kacey wiped the blood from her face. "I think so…Mom!" she cried, limping over to Kara's fallen form. She wasn't conscious, and looked like hell. "We have to get her home."

"We've gotta find Hera first."

"Already taken care of," a voice said, and Sharon turned to see two copies of herself escorting her daughter.

"You'd really just let us go?" Kacey asked them.

"This is bigger than you. The two of you may be the future of the Cylon race, but not the answer that some were hoping for. The alliance between the seven models is failing – has been for quite some time – and you would have been at the center of the fight for Caprica"

"Fight between who?" Hera asked.

"The Threes and Sevens, mainly. The Threes have long distanced themselves from the rest of us with their religious zeal. Your father, Kacey, is not the most radical of the Sevens, though he is one of the most resourceful. They have each pulled other models to their side of the battle for who has the right to exist, to continue to evolve – a hybrid race or the bio-Cylons."

"But why can't everyone exist?" Kacey asked. "Humans, Cylons, and hybrids? Why does someone always have to be the winner?"

The two women smiled. "That's something we have wondered as well," one answered. "The possibility that we will all destroy each other becomes a greater concern every day. The Eights and the Sixes are pulling away from all of the others. We want no part in their fight."

"You did this?" Kacey asked, indicating Uri. She received a nod in return. "What will happen to him now?"

"He will likely remain this way. Leoben has known the truth about him for quite some time. Perhaps we have spared him the fate the rest of us face."

The floor rocked, a shudder moving through the entire Basestar. "What was that?" Hera asked.

The two Eights shared a look. "Come with us; we don't have a lot of time."

* * *

The trip down to the hangar had everyone on edge; it all seemed too fast, too good to be true. Kara was slightly more lucid, but still needed Sharon's help to walk. It was a complete surprise when a centurion suddenly stepped out from another corridor, one gun blazing. Both of the Eights were quickly taken down. Hera flinched backwards, but Kacey didn't even seem to notice, continuing past the now-quiet centurion and down the corridor.

"What are you doing?" Hera called to her, but didn't get a response. Almost like she was in a trance, Kacey continued forward until she found herself standing in front of her father.

"Did you think I would let you go that easily?" Leoben asked. The floor shuddered again.

"You'll get us killed if we stay."

"I would never let anything happen to you."

"Like Uri?"

He almost seemed fragile, as though the weight he'd placed upon his own shoulders was finally growing large enough to crush him. "We need you here…I need you."

"I used to blame you, Daddy, for why I was different, why we were at war. I know it wasn't your intention, but I think you changed the course of humanity for the better. The fleet will survive. Can you say the same for yourself?" He didn't answer. "I told Hera that she had to go through what she has to be the person she's meant to be. I guess I should listen to my own advice. I don't blame you anymore, but my future isn't with you."

"You are our future."

"I know, but not the one that you wanted to make happen…I don't expect to change you anymore, or change what you believe in, but you have to let me go, Daddy. Let us go live our own lives."

Leoben knelt to be at her level. There'd been so many years of plans and work and it was all unraveling before him. He could have forced her to stay, forced everything he wanted upon her, but then it wouldn't be fate. He was wise enough to understand that, even if he didn't like it. "I did it all for you," he quietly told her. "For you and your mother. For your destiny."

Kacey smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I know. And I'll be okay." He slowly nodded. "Bye, Daddy," she whispered. And then she turned and walked away.

* * *

No one else tried to stop them. A Heavy Raider was in the hangar, just waiting for them. After helping Kara into a seat in the back, Sharon moved up to the cockpit and started powering up the ship's systems. "Kacey," she called back to the younger girl. "Come here; I need a co-pilot."

Her eyes widened. "Me??"

Sharon nodded. "You don't need a hard wire to access a Raider's systems. Come on, get up here!" Kacey hurried to oblige.

A crash course in piloting didn't take long; Kacey was in charge of getting the FTL drive up while Sharon took them out of the Basestar – and into the middle of a battle with another ship. The war had started, and the outcome was currently difficult to foresee. After all these years, though, the Cylons finally had bigger problems than chasing down the last of humanity.

As Kacey left them behind, she knew she'd made the right choice. 'Belonging' was a relative thing, but she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

* * *

Both of the Adama men were in Galactica's CIC when one of the officers called out, "Contact!" Lee headed for the nearest console. "Dradis contact…Cylon Heavy Raider headed directly for the fleet."

Adama muttered a curse. "Is it alone?"

"As far as we can tell."

"Set Condition Two throughout the fleet. Send the CAP to intercept."

"Wait!" a voice called out, and everyone turned to look at the communications officer.

Ten minutes later, the Raider was being lowered down to the hangar deck with a large crowd standing around to watch. Adama – accompanied by several marines – was waiting by the hatch when it opened. "We need a med team," Sharon called out, trying to help Kara to her feet.

Kacey and Hera hung back, not sure what would come next. Both girls looked up nervously as Adama approached them. He held Kacey's look for a long moment. "I ought to throw you in the brig until you're old enough to enlist," he told her.

She swallowed hard. "Yes, Sir."

Instead, however, he pulled his granddaughter into his arms. "You're going to give me more gray hairs than your mother did, aren't you?" he whispered.

"Yes, Sir."

The med team was having an interesting time trying to get Kara to cooperate and get on a stretcher, but she stopped fighting them as much as she saw Lee approach. "I'm never putting you on one of my ops again," he told her with a smile as he kissed her. "Frakked the whole thing up."

"Sorry 'bout that, Sir," she sarcastically replied.

Kacey watched as the Agathons were reunited as well, and members of the deck crew began better securing the ship that they'd just brought back. She was suddenly aware that Zak was standing directly in front of her, looking up with an ear-to-ear grin. For an instant, she thought of her other brother, and hoped he could somehow now find peace. He shouldn't have had to be the one to pay for Leoben's overzealous plans.

"Hi," Zak said, his smile brightening even further. His surprise was evident, however, when she bent over and hugged him tight.

"I love you, Zak," Kacey told him. "Even if you do annoy me sometimes."

He recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around his sister. "Love you."

* * *

TBC... 


	15. Epilogue

Cottle wound up keeping Kara overnight in the Life Station, much to her displeasure. Lee had meetings with Sharon and his father for much of the rest of the evening, and a smile crossed his face when he came into the family bunkroom and saw Kacey sitting with Zak on his bed, reading him a book.

"I think it's someone's bedtime," he told his son, who pouted, but obediently lay down. "Wouldn't hurt you to get some rest, either," he added for Kacey. She considered it, realizing how exhausted she really was, and climbed up to her own bunk. Lee tucked Zak in and pulled his curtain closed, then stood on the ladder beside the beds so he could see Kacey. "How're you doing, kiddo?" he quietly asked her.

"Okay. Mom's gonna be all right, right?"

"Yeah, the Doc just figured he'd have a better chance of being able to check her out again in the morning if he forced her to stay overnight." Kacey smiled a little; she knew how much her mother liked being in the Life Station. "So…your father wanted to take you back to Caprica?"

"Mmm-hmm…Do you ever miss the Colonies?"

"Yeah, I do. But they're not my home anymore. My home's with you and your mom and Zak."

Kacey took a shuddery breath. "Really? I mean…you've been my dad for way more of my life than my real dad, but…am I your kid?"

Lee smiled slightly. "Do you remember your mom's and my wedding?" Kacey nodded. "Do you remember what our vows were?"

"Sorta?"

"Well, that's okay because I do. I promised to be a good and loyal husband to your mom, and to care and provide for you as my own, loving you forever. I gave my word before the Gods, and you know how important a person's word is on this ship, right?"

Kacey nodded. "Do you ever wish…that I was normal, like everybody else?"

"You taught me to see beyond that, Kacey. You taught your mother how to trust in love; I don't know if we ever would have managed to get together if she hadn't learned that. You've had a great impact on a lot of people. Why? Do you wish you were different?"

She shook her head. "Not anymore."

Lee smiled, pulling her blanket up over her. "Get some sleep."

"Goodnight, Dad."

He kissed her forehead. "Night, Kace."

* * *

A few days later, things were getting back to normal around the ship. "Have you decided what you're going to do yet?" Kacey asked Hera as the two of them laid out the former's newest star chart on the floor in the observation deck. 

Hera shrugged. "Mom – Maya – wants to go back to the Liner at the end of the week. I kind of miss it, you know? But I don't want to leave Galactica, either. Mom and Dad came up with a really good idea, though."

"What?"

"I can keep going to school three or four days a week, and live with Maya on the Liner, and then the rest of the time I'll stay on Galactica. That way, I can still keep learning, and I can spend time with both of my families."

"I told her that we should trade lessons when she's here," KJ piped up from his spot by the window, fiddling with a radio that he'd been trying to repair. "We'll teach her 'bout navigating and fighters, and she can teach us stuff from school."

"Maybe you can come to school sometimes, too," Hera added. "My mom's got SO many books, Kacey; you'd love it."

All three of them jumped in surprise when KJ's radio suddenly and LOUDLY began blasting static. He quickly reached to adjust the volume. "Sorry."

"You know, you never explained the story," Hera told her little brother. "About your name." Kacey giggled.

"Well, the way Dad tells it," KJ began, "Mom would always say that if they had a son, they should name it after Dad, but he doesn't really like his name all that much and didn't want to do that to me."

"Obviously they did anyway," Hera pointed out.

"That's the joke part. Dad was on a recon mission and ran into trouble and couldn't get back to Galactica before I was born. So, Mom named me Karl, 'cause she was mad he'd gone on the mission in the first place."

Hera cracked up laughing. "That's terrible!"

He shrugged. "I don't mind so much. At least nobody calls me Number Fifteen or something stupid like that." The girls had to agree.

"So where is our plotted jump supposed to take us?" Hera asked Kacey as they turned back to their chart and KJ went back to his radio.

* * *

By the time they'd finished going over the large sheet of paper and a few basic calculations, it was time for the jump that Kacey had been trying to explain. The children made their usual predictions for what constellations they would find on the other side, but their hopes were not rewarded.

"Hey, I think I got it working!" KJ excitedly proclaimed, holding up his radio, which indeed was broadcasting a somewhat strong signal. Kacey frowned as she listened to it.

"What is that? Talk wireless?"

_**Thirty, one-half down…We're pegged on horizontal velocity…300 feet, down three and a half, 47 forward.**_

KJ shrugged. "I don't think so…I can't tell what frequency I'm picking up; the gauge's still broke."

"Is someone doing a refueling or something?" Hera asked after they listened some more. "It sounds like pilots."

_**Lights On. Down two and a half. Forward, forward. Good…forty feet, down two and a half. Kicking up some dust.**_

"Not this soon after a jump," Kacey replied. "And you would only kick up dust when you land something on a planet."

"There's a planet nearby?" KJ asked excitedly, turning around to look out the window.

"I wouldn't have thought so…Nobody would be dumb enough to get the whole fleet to jump in so close to a planet – someone could wind up inside it."

_**Four forward, four forward. Drifting to the right a little. Okay, Down a half…Contact Light. Okay, engine stop.**_

"Maybe it's a stray signal," Kacey mused aloud. "But that means it could have come from anywhere. It could be dozens of light-years away, which means the original broadcast was made long before we were even born."

"But it had to come from someplace, right?" KJ asked.

**_ACA, out of detent. Mode control, both auto. Descent engine command override, off. Engine arm: off._**

Hera's eyes went wide as she realized. "Earth. Who else would be transmitting on the other side of the galaxy? It has to be from Earth!"

_**We copy you down, Eagle. Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.  
**_

* * *

Fin. 

A/N: That last bit was a bit of a tribute to the original Galactica. Many thanks to everyone who's been reading along and given feedback. (hint, hint: if you haven't already, push the blue button!)


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